Rebecca Wartell | Earlham College (original) (raw)
Papers by Rebecca Wartell
Encyclopedia of the Bible Online, Apr 13, 2023
A brief overview of Rabbi David Nieto, first rabbi of the Portuguese Jewish community of London.
The expulsion of the Jews of Spain and Portugal at the end of the fifteenth century marked the be... more The expulsion of the Jews of Spain and Portugal at the end of the fifteenth century marked the beginning of the Sephardic diaspora. Many refugees sought economic opportunity in Italy and its colonies, but their paths to safety were often blocked by fervent inquisitions and anti-migrant sentiment. This thesis considers the challenges of exile as recounted in the rabbinic texts of the eastern Mediterranean in the early modern period.
Parergon, 2019
in a recent study i suggested that thirteenth-century French Jewish legal scholars were more moti... more in a recent study i suggested that thirteenth-century French Jewish legal scholars were more motivated to reach a broader reading audience, beyond the elite talmud scholar, than their rhineland contemporaries. 1 in their writing on Jewish religious law throughout the century, French scholars showed an interest in making their works more accessible, an impetus that would seem to have been absent from their western german counterparts until the last quarter of the century, when one finds the beginnings of a change in germany within the school of Meir of rothenburg. 2 in France, the scholars who wrote works on religious law expended thought and effort devising tools that would make their work available even for readers less conversant than the scholar with the talmudic material. this can be seen as early as the turn-of-the-century work Sefer ha-terumah (the Book of offering) by Barukh ben isaac. although the body of the work is complex and written in the "scholastic" style of the tosafot, 3 the author appended to his work an abridgment that allowed a wider range of readers to consult his legal decisions without having to immerse themselves in the complexities of the talmudic discussion. However, the most dramatic expression of this French characteristic can be found in the work 'Amudei golah (the Pillars of Exile) or, as it became known, Semak, by isaac of Corbeil, completed in 1276-77. as we shall see,
Mediterranean Historical Review, Jul 3, 2019
This case study considers rabbinic texts that address the migration of converso refugees to Venet... more This case study considers rabbinic texts that address the migration of converso refugees to Venetian Crete in the mid-sixteenth century. New papal policies and the onset of the Roman Inquisition on mainland Italy prompted a refugee crisis in Candia that led to tensions between the migrants and local Candiote Jews. Coming primarily from Sephardic origins, these migrants were in search of refuge as well as the opportunity to reclaim their Jewish identities after forced conversion; here we consider three letters contained in Takkanot Kandiyah from rabbinic authorities on how to diffuse the situation and approach the converso issue within a halakhic framework.
Parergon, 2015
Produced, as we shall see, in early Ottoman Cairo, the manuscript eventually known as BnF, MS Ar.... more Produced, as we shall see, in early Ottoman Cairo, the manuscript eventually known as BnF, MS Ar. 1 came to Europe with the collection of François Savary de Brèves, an adroit diplomat and outstanding Arabic and Turkish scholar of his time. 1 He served as ambassador of France to the Sublime Porte during the years 1591-1604. Upon the termination of his diplomatic service in Istanbul, Savary de Brèves embarked on a journey through the Levant, Egypt, and North Africa during which he eagerly collected manuscripts. Once more appointed to diplomatic service, he established a printing press in Rome, the Typographia Savariana. With the collaboration of Gabriel Sionita (Jibrīl al-Ṣaḥyūnī) and Vittorio Scialac Accurensis (Naṣr Allāh Shalaq al-'Aqūrī), whom he had recruited from the Maronite College, and Husain, a Turk from Buda, Savary de Brèves issued a Psalter in Arabic in 1614. e manuscript he had secured in Jerusalem. However, the book constituted a mere coup d'essai for a much larger project. It was his aspiration to print the entire bible in Arabic, and this time BnF, MS Ar. 1 would serve as a basis for this. e codex was most apt for his 'haute entreprise' , as he would call this printing project in his correspondence, since it contained the entire Old Testament. As a minor defect, it only omitted the Book of Ruth. Gabriel Sionita had already started transcribing the Pentateuch when Savary de Brèves was called back to France. De Brèves returned to his native country, taking with him not only the printing press and his manuscripts, but also his collaborators Gabriel Sionita and Vittorio Scialac Accurensis. Back in France, his 'haute entreprise' was soon absorbed by Cardinal du Perron's larger project of preparing an extended and improved version of the Antwerp Polyglot, issued by Christopher Plantin in 1569-72. However, funding di culties, the passing away of Savary de Brèves and Cardinal du Perron, the major patrons of the whole enterprise, and a lawsuit against Sionita caused severe delays to the project. e last volume of the Paris Polyglot only rolled o the press in 1645, more than a decade later than the rst. BnF, MS Ar. 1 was deposited at the Bibliothèque Colbert, and from there it was transferred to the Bibliothèque du Roi in 1753, which ultimately, mutatis mutandis, constituted the main source of the Ancien Fond at the Bibliothèque nationale. 2
Encyclopedia of the Bible Online, 2023
A brief overview of Rabbi David Nieto, first rabbi of the Portuguese Jewish community of London.
Mediterranean Historical Review, 2019
This case study considers rabbinic texts that address the migration of converso refugees to Venet... more This case study considers rabbinic texts that address the migration of converso refugees to Venetian Crete in the mid-sixteenth century. New papal policies and the onset of the Roman Inquisition on mainland Italy prompted a refugee crisis in Candia that led to tensions between the migrants and local Candiote Jews. Coming primarily from Sephardic origins, these migrants were in search of refuge as well as the opportunity to reclaim their Jewish identities after forced conversion; here we consider three letters contained in Takkanot Kandiyah from rabbinic authorities on how to diffuse the situation and approach the converso issue within a halakhic framework.
It is safe to say that most historians of early modern European Jewish history will know of the K... more It is safe to say that most historians of early modern European Jewish history will know of the Khmelnytsky uprising of 1648–1654 and the unprecedented immediate toll that it took on the Jews of Uk...
The expulsion of the Jews of Spain and Portugal at the end of the fifteenth century marked the be... more The expulsion of the Jews of Spain and Portugal at the end of the fifteenth century marked the beginning of the Sephardic diaspora. Many refugees sought economic opportunity in Italy and its colonies, but their paths to safety were often blocked by fervent inquisitions and anti-migrant sentiment. This thesis considers the challenges of exile as recounted in the rabbinic texts of the eastern Mediterranean in the early modern period.
Mediterranean Historical Review , 2019
This case study considers rabbinic texts that address the migration of converso refugees to Venet... more This case study considers rabbinic texts that address the migration of converso refugees to Venetian Crete in the mid-sixteenth century. New papal policies and the onset of the Roman Inquisition on mainland Italy prompted a refugee crisis in Candia that led to tensions between the migrants and local Candiote Jews. Coming primarily from Sephardic origins, these migrants were in search of refuge as well as the opportunity to reclaim their Jewish identities after forced conversion; here we con- sider three letters contained in Takkanot Kandiyah from rabbinic authorities on how to diffuse the situation and approach the converso issue within a halakhic framework.
Book Reviews by Rebecca Wartell
![Research paper thumbnail of [Review] Adam Teller, Rescue the surviving souls the great J...ugee crisis of the seventeenth century](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/67840645/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Mediterranean Historical Review, 2021
![Research paper thumbnail of [Review] Robert Chazan, Refugee or Migrant: Pre-Modern Jewish Population Movement, Yale University Press, 2019.](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/63844587/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](H-Judaic Book Reviews, 2020
Commissioned by Barbara Krawcowicz (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) Robert Chazan... more Commissioned by Barbara Krawcowicz (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) Robert Chazan's engaging book presents a long-scope view of premodern Jewish history through the lens of population movement. Accord ing to this leading scholar of medieval Jewry, Jews were more often voluntary migrants to new quar ters of the world, rather than refugees desperately seeking asylum. In pursuit of economic, political, and social opportunity, premodern Jewish individ uals and communities faced fewer incidents of
![Research paper thumbnail of [Review] Entangled Histories: Knowledge, Authority, and Jewish Culture in the Thirteenth Century, Elisheva Baumgarten, Ruth Mazo Karras, and Katelyn Mesler, eds, Parergon (2016)](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/61487422/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](![Research paper thumbnail of [review] Rebecca Wartell Lobel on Becoming Ottomans: Sephardi Jews and Imperial Citizenship in the Modern Era](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/52164467/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](![Research paper thumbnail of [Review] The Secret Faith Maestre Honoratus: Profayt Duran and Jewish Identity in Late Medieval Iberia, Parergon (2016)](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/50292000/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](The collection, complemented by an extensive bibliography, is structured to appeal to both early ... more The collection, complemented by an extensive bibliography, is structured to appeal to both early modern scholars and students in many fields including theatre, literature, and cultural studies.
![Research paper thumbnail of [Review] Alfonso and Decter, Patronage, Production and Transmission of Texts in Medieval and Early Modern Jewish Cultures, Parergon (2015)](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/42865900/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Conference Presentations by Rebecca Wartell
Policing the Margins: 3rd Annual CMRS Symposium March 24, 2017 The 3rd annual symposium o... more Policing the Margins: 3rd Annual CMRS Symposium
March 24, 2017
The 3rd annual symposium of the Monash Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Studies will take place on Friday 28th April 2017 at the Monash Club.
The theme of this year’s symposium is “Policing the margins: authority, identity and religious ambiguity amongst Jews, Christians and Muslims in medieval Europe and the Mediterranean”.
The claims of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to a shared divine inheritance via the Hebrew Bible often made it difficult to define and police religious identity in medieval Europe and the Mediterranean. This symposium is concerned with the boundaries between orthodoxy and heresy, forced conversion and religious sincerity, and mysticism and orthopraxy. It will examine the question of ambiguity in religious identity and its impact on the responses of authority to the perceived dangers inherent within divergent approaches to faith in Jewish, Christian and Islamic contexts.
The advances in the field of religious history since the mid-twentieth century have been given ne... more The advances in the field of religious history since the mid-twentieth century have been given new impetus by innovative scholarship that is contributing to our understanding of religion in the Renaissance. The interaction of Church, religion, and society within their cultural frameworks is receiving new attention, as is the role of theology in everyday life. Scholars are beginning to explore these dimensions by using the Renaissance faithful's own categories. The symposium aims to contribute to this growing discourse and to interrogate some of the historiographical assumptions that have underpinned study of the religious dimensions of Renaissance culture. Invited speakers will consider the places, functions, and roles of the Church and religion in the Renaissance, paying particular attention to the methodological and theoretical trends of contemporary scholarship.
Encyclopedia of the Bible Online, Apr 13, 2023
A brief overview of Rabbi David Nieto, first rabbi of the Portuguese Jewish community of London.
The expulsion of the Jews of Spain and Portugal at the end of the fifteenth century marked the be... more The expulsion of the Jews of Spain and Portugal at the end of the fifteenth century marked the beginning of the Sephardic diaspora. Many refugees sought economic opportunity in Italy and its colonies, but their paths to safety were often blocked by fervent inquisitions and anti-migrant sentiment. This thesis considers the challenges of exile as recounted in the rabbinic texts of the eastern Mediterranean in the early modern period.
Parergon, 2019
in a recent study i suggested that thirteenth-century French Jewish legal scholars were more moti... more in a recent study i suggested that thirteenth-century French Jewish legal scholars were more motivated to reach a broader reading audience, beyond the elite talmud scholar, than their rhineland contemporaries. 1 in their writing on Jewish religious law throughout the century, French scholars showed an interest in making their works more accessible, an impetus that would seem to have been absent from their western german counterparts until the last quarter of the century, when one finds the beginnings of a change in germany within the school of Meir of rothenburg. 2 in France, the scholars who wrote works on religious law expended thought and effort devising tools that would make their work available even for readers less conversant than the scholar with the talmudic material. this can be seen as early as the turn-of-the-century work Sefer ha-terumah (the Book of offering) by Barukh ben isaac. although the body of the work is complex and written in the "scholastic" style of the tosafot, 3 the author appended to his work an abridgment that allowed a wider range of readers to consult his legal decisions without having to immerse themselves in the complexities of the talmudic discussion. However, the most dramatic expression of this French characteristic can be found in the work 'Amudei golah (the Pillars of Exile) or, as it became known, Semak, by isaac of Corbeil, completed in 1276-77. as we shall see,
Mediterranean Historical Review, Jul 3, 2019
This case study considers rabbinic texts that address the migration of converso refugees to Venet... more This case study considers rabbinic texts that address the migration of converso refugees to Venetian Crete in the mid-sixteenth century. New papal policies and the onset of the Roman Inquisition on mainland Italy prompted a refugee crisis in Candia that led to tensions between the migrants and local Candiote Jews. Coming primarily from Sephardic origins, these migrants were in search of refuge as well as the opportunity to reclaim their Jewish identities after forced conversion; here we consider three letters contained in Takkanot Kandiyah from rabbinic authorities on how to diffuse the situation and approach the converso issue within a halakhic framework.
Parergon, 2015
Produced, as we shall see, in early Ottoman Cairo, the manuscript eventually known as BnF, MS Ar.... more Produced, as we shall see, in early Ottoman Cairo, the manuscript eventually known as BnF, MS Ar. 1 came to Europe with the collection of François Savary de Brèves, an adroit diplomat and outstanding Arabic and Turkish scholar of his time. 1 He served as ambassador of France to the Sublime Porte during the years 1591-1604. Upon the termination of his diplomatic service in Istanbul, Savary de Brèves embarked on a journey through the Levant, Egypt, and North Africa during which he eagerly collected manuscripts. Once more appointed to diplomatic service, he established a printing press in Rome, the Typographia Savariana. With the collaboration of Gabriel Sionita (Jibrīl al-Ṣaḥyūnī) and Vittorio Scialac Accurensis (Naṣr Allāh Shalaq al-'Aqūrī), whom he had recruited from the Maronite College, and Husain, a Turk from Buda, Savary de Brèves issued a Psalter in Arabic in 1614. e manuscript he had secured in Jerusalem. However, the book constituted a mere coup d'essai for a much larger project. It was his aspiration to print the entire bible in Arabic, and this time BnF, MS Ar. 1 would serve as a basis for this. e codex was most apt for his 'haute entreprise' , as he would call this printing project in his correspondence, since it contained the entire Old Testament. As a minor defect, it only omitted the Book of Ruth. Gabriel Sionita had already started transcribing the Pentateuch when Savary de Brèves was called back to France. De Brèves returned to his native country, taking with him not only the printing press and his manuscripts, but also his collaborators Gabriel Sionita and Vittorio Scialac Accurensis. Back in France, his 'haute entreprise' was soon absorbed by Cardinal du Perron's larger project of preparing an extended and improved version of the Antwerp Polyglot, issued by Christopher Plantin in 1569-72. However, funding di culties, the passing away of Savary de Brèves and Cardinal du Perron, the major patrons of the whole enterprise, and a lawsuit against Sionita caused severe delays to the project. e last volume of the Paris Polyglot only rolled o the press in 1645, more than a decade later than the rst. BnF, MS Ar. 1 was deposited at the Bibliothèque Colbert, and from there it was transferred to the Bibliothèque du Roi in 1753, which ultimately, mutatis mutandis, constituted the main source of the Ancien Fond at the Bibliothèque nationale. 2
Encyclopedia of the Bible Online, 2023
A brief overview of Rabbi David Nieto, first rabbi of the Portuguese Jewish community of London.
Mediterranean Historical Review, 2019
This case study considers rabbinic texts that address the migration of converso refugees to Venet... more This case study considers rabbinic texts that address the migration of converso refugees to Venetian Crete in the mid-sixteenth century. New papal policies and the onset of the Roman Inquisition on mainland Italy prompted a refugee crisis in Candia that led to tensions between the migrants and local Candiote Jews. Coming primarily from Sephardic origins, these migrants were in search of refuge as well as the opportunity to reclaim their Jewish identities after forced conversion; here we consider three letters contained in Takkanot Kandiyah from rabbinic authorities on how to diffuse the situation and approach the converso issue within a halakhic framework.
It is safe to say that most historians of early modern European Jewish history will know of the K... more It is safe to say that most historians of early modern European Jewish history will know of the Khmelnytsky uprising of 1648–1654 and the unprecedented immediate toll that it took on the Jews of Uk...
The expulsion of the Jews of Spain and Portugal at the end of the fifteenth century marked the be... more The expulsion of the Jews of Spain and Portugal at the end of the fifteenth century marked the beginning of the Sephardic diaspora. Many refugees sought economic opportunity in Italy and its colonies, but their paths to safety were often blocked by fervent inquisitions and anti-migrant sentiment. This thesis considers the challenges of exile as recounted in the rabbinic texts of the eastern Mediterranean in the early modern period.
Mediterranean Historical Review , 2019
This case study considers rabbinic texts that address the migration of converso refugees to Venet... more This case study considers rabbinic texts that address the migration of converso refugees to Venetian Crete in the mid-sixteenth century. New papal policies and the onset of the Roman Inquisition on mainland Italy prompted a refugee crisis in Candia that led to tensions between the migrants and local Candiote Jews. Coming primarily from Sephardic origins, these migrants were in search of refuge as well as the opportunity to reclaim their Jewish identities after forced conversion; here we con- sider three letters contained in Takkanot Kandiyah from rabbinic authorities on how to diffuse the situation and approach the converso issue within a halakhic framework.
Mediterranean Historical Review, 2021
H-Judaic Book Reviews, 2020
Commissioned by Barbara Krawcowicz (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) Robert Chazan... more Commissioned by Barbara Krawcowicz (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) Robert Chazan's engaging book presents a long-scope view of premodern Jewish history through the lens of population movement. Accord ing to this leading scholar of medieval Jewry, Jews were more often voluntary migrants to new quar ters of the world, rather than refugees desperately seeking asylum. In pursuit of economic, political, and social opportunity, premodern Jewish individ uals and communities faced fewer incidents of
The collection, complemented by an extensive bibliography, is structured to appeal to both early ... more The collection, complemented by an extensive bibliography, is structured to appeal to both early modern scholars and students in many fields including theatre, literature, and cultural studies.
Policing the Margins: 3rd Annual CMRS Symposium March 24, 2017 The 3rd annual symposium o... more Policing the Margins: 3rd Annual CMRS Symposium
March 24, 2017
The 3rd annual symposium of the Monash Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Studies will take place on Friday 28th April 2017 at the Monash Club.
The theme of this year’s symposium is “Policing the margins: authority, identity and religious ambiguity amongst Jews, Christians and Muslims in medieval Europe and the Mediterranean”.
The claims of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to a shared divine inheritance via the Hebrew Bible often made it difficult to define and police religious identity in medieval Europe and the Mediterranean. This symposium is concerned with the boundaries between orthodoxy and heresy, forced conversion and religious sincerity, and mysticism and orthopraxy. It will examine the question of ambiguity in religious identity and its impact on the responses of authority to the perceived dangers inherent within divergent approaches to faith in Jewish, Christian and Islamic contexts.
The advances in the field of religious history since the mid-twentieth century have been given ne... more The advances in the field of religious history since the mid-twentieth century have been given new impetus by innovative scholarship that is contributing to our understanding of religion in the Renaissance. The interaction of Church, religion, and society within their cultural frameworks is receiving new attention, as is the role of theology in everyday life. Scholars are beginning to explore these dimensions by using the Renaissance faithful's own categories. The symposium aims to contribute to this growing discourse and to interrogate some of the historiographical assumptions that have underpinned study of the religious dimensions of Renaissance culture. Invited speakers will consider the places, functions, and roles of the Church and religion in the Renaissance, paying particular attention to the methodological and theoretical trends of contemporary scholarship.
Jews Out West , 2019
Details of the 2019 Biannual Embodied Judaism symposium at the University of Colorado, Boulder. E... more Details of the 2019 Biannual Embodied Judaism symposium at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Entitled "Jews Out West," this event and permanent installation considers the history of Jews in the American West, and the history of Jewish summer camps and retreats in the Rocky Mountains.
Although the field of religious history has come a long way since the mid-twentieth century, our ... more Although the field of religious history has come a long way since the mid-twentieth century, our understanding of religion in the Renaissance period remains the focus of innovative scholarship. The interaction of Church, religion, and society within their cultural frameworks is receiving new attention, as is the role of theology in everyday life. Scholars are beginning to explore these dimensions by using the Renaissance faithful's own categories. This symposium aims to contribute to this growing discourse and to interrogate some of the historiographical assumptions that have underpinned study of the religious dimensions of Renaissance culture.
The invited speakers have been asked to consider the places, functions, and roles of the Church and religion in the Renaissance, paying particular attention to the methodological and theoretical trends of contemporary scholarship. Recent conferences have demonstrated that Renaissance religion is on the cutting-edge of historical inquiry, and this symposium aims to contribute to that discourse. The papers and discussion will also seek to reflect upon where religious history is headed in the future.